Young Canadian women's rugby sevens team on smoother road to L.A. after Paris silver

With an Olympic silver medal in hand and a smoother coaching transition, a young Canadian women's rugby sevens team has Los Angeles 2028 in its sights.

Of the 14 players who had silver medals looped around their necks at Stade de France in Paris on Tuesday after a hard-fought loss to powerhouse New Zealand, eight were under the age of 24.

"Our average age was around 23 which is young and really exciting, because I think we can continue to grow and push for that 2028 group to go for gold," said 21-year-old Chloe Daniels of Sutton, Ont., on Wednesday at Canada Olympic House.

Rugby Canada announced in May that assistant coach Jocelyn Barrieau will take over as head coach of the sevens side post-Paris for Jack Hanratty, who is taking a coaching job with the University of Ottawa Gee-Gees.

Montreal's Barrieau, whose head-coaching contract starts Sept. 1, was hired as an assistant in 2023. She would be the first woman to coach a Canadian women's rugby sevens side at the Olympic Games should it qualify for L.A.

But Barrieau is quick to credit Hanratty for righting the ship for Paris. The Irishman was the fourth person in a year to be appointed coach back in 2021 after Canada placed ninth in Tokyo.

Head coach and high-performance director John Tait resigned weeks out from Tokyo's Summer Games after current and former players filed a complaint against him. Rugby Canada's independent review determined his conduct didn't run afoul of its harassment and bullying policy at the time.

The team overcame that tension, the coaching carousel, multiple player retirements and a three-year window to rebuild instead of four to land on the podium in Paris.

"I don't think I'll ever be able to paint the picture of what head coach Hanratty put in